Milton C. Fisher
Sir Charles Wilson, with entrance to “Wilson’s Arch” visible beside the
Western Wall, left center.
Jerusalem stands as the prime “target” for Biblical archaeology. It was the capital of the United Monarchy of Israel, under David and Solomon, and of the kingdom of Judah for nearly four more centuries; it played a central role in the prophetic activity and proclamation of the Old Testament; it became the focal point of the ministry and cruel death of Jesus Christ, witnessing His resurrection and ascension, followed by the birth and early growth of the Christian church.
Only one problem: unlike ruins of most cities and towns named in Bible history, Jerusalem has been massively altered and extensively occupied on into modern times. Even the monumentalizing of traditional locations for ancient events which occurred within the city has raised as many questions as it could settle. Could the religious (often sectarian and competing) claims to identification of sites be trusted? What about installations (ancient walls, buildings, water tunnels, etc.) still buried from sight, or at least unexplored?
A special sort of man was needed to undertake the necessary fact-finding expedition. He must be bold, yet diplomatic, physically strong, yet intelligent – imaginative and skilled in surveying and engineering. By 1865, when the Palestine Exploration Fund was created in England under royal patronage (Queen Victoria) and distinguished chairmanship (the Archbishop of
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York), such a man was standing in the wings. He was Captain (later Major-General) C. W. Wilson of the Royal Engineers, doubly experienced for the effort.
Wilson had served well, although the youngest member of the team, on the joint British-United States North American Boundary Commission, which surveyed, mapped, and physically marked out the border between the USA and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean (1858–62). Then, beginning in October, 1864, he undertook a volunteer task in Jerusalem which lasted nine months. An English lady philanthropist, Miss (later Baroness) Burett-Coutts, provided funds for the measuring and mapping of Jerusalem, with an aim to improving the city’s water supply and sanitation system. By the following November (1865) he was back, under Palestine Exploration Fund sponsorship, to complete his survey, make some archaeological soundings, and suggest other sites for exploration.
Having encountered difficulties on his previous topographical survey, Captain Wilson knew what a seemingly impossible assignment he had accepted, with religious (Muslim, Christian, or Jewish), private, commercial, or governmental establishments occupying or controlling the very sites to be searched (dug?!) to uncover mysteries long buried or disguised. Nevertheless, our resourceful soldier accomplished a great deal on those two visits between 1864 and 1866 (close of the American Civil War). Most significantly, Wilson produced the first detailed and accurate (still a standard reference) ordinance map of Old City Jerusalem. He was called to do the same for the Sinai peninsula a few years later. He also suggested the exact location of the Tabernacle while it was at Shiloh (See News and Notes in this issue).
Despite the physical obstacles suggested above and additional hindrances created by suspicious Turkish officials, Wilson managed a surprising amount of archaeological probing – most notably the initial clearing on an amazingly well-preserved arch, which had sustained the connecting bridge built by Herod the Great across the Tyropean Valley. This once high arch, now bearing his name, was in Wilson’s day a subterranean structure, the valley having been clogged over the centuries with Fifty feet or so of rocks, dirt, and other debris. Hence, today the entire area in front of the Western (temple area retention) Wall is far above what was the walking surface at the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry. For that same reason the Pool of Siloam, once at or above surface level at the lower end of the valley, now requires descent of a number of steps to be reached.
Wilson managed to do sufficient digging to expose the underside of the arch – which work had to be repeated one hundred years later, following the 1967 Israeli occupation of the site. Continuation and expansion upon Wilson’s efforts, also under the Palestine Exploration Fund, was undertaken within a year by another officer of the Royal Engineers, Lieutenant Charles Warren, whose accomplishments we shall consider next.
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